Origins

How the Earth Shaped Human History

By: Lewis Dartnell

Narrated by: John Sackville

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Origins by Lewis Dartnell, read by John Sackville.

When we talk about human history, we focus on great leaders, mass migration and decisive wars. But how has the Earth itself determined our destiny? How has our planet made us?

As a species we are shaped by our environment. Geological forces drove our evolution in East Africa; mountainous terrain led to the development of democracy in Greece; and today voting behaviour in the United States follows the bed of an ancient sea. The human story is the story of these forces, from plate tectonics and climate change, to atmospheric circulation and ocean currents.

How are the Himalayas linked to the orbit of the Earth, and to the formation of the British Isles? By taking us billions of years into our planet’s past, Professor Lewis Dartnell tells us the ultimate origin story. When we reach the point where history becomes science we see a vast web of connections that underwrites our modern world and helps us face the challenges of the future.

From the cultivation of the first crops to the founding of modern states, Origins reveals the Earth’s awesome impact on the shape of human civilizations.

©2019 Lewis Dartnell (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

A sweeping, brilliant overview of the history not only of our species but of the world. Whether discussing the formation of continents or the role that climate (and climate change) has had on human migration, Lewis Dartnell has a rare talent in being able to see the big picture – and explaining why it matters. (Peter Frankopan, author of THE SILK ROADS)

Origins by Lewis Dartnell stands comparison with Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens…A thrilling piece of Big History (James McConnachie)

‘Extraordinary… Origins is one of those rare books that dissolves mystery through the steady application of sublime lucidity. While reading it, I kept thinking: “Oh, that makes sense…” … Dartnell understands geology, geography, anthropology, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy and history. That’s quite an achievement, but what makes him special is the way he communicates the interconnectedness of these disciplines in a clear, logical and entertaining way…Superb. (Gerard DeGroot)

Great Works from Mr. Dartnell.

Loved the book,it left me wondering about certain believes.
Mr. Dartnell was very informative.

Incredibly fascinating story of human existence

This is a very fascinating story of how deep geological time, geographical factors, biology and weather systems all highly affect how, where and why people live their life. The book even demonstrated the correlation of different bedrock and sediments with how people vote in elections.

I can definitely recommend this book!

Fantastic

The perfect story, language and wording extraordinary and a balanced, focused and very much enjoyable narration - well, all in all, one of my top five books so far. Worth all the five stars. You should not miss the chance to listen to this. In short, just get this book.

Great book; unfortunate choice of narrator

I like Dartnell’s way of looking at the world. He’s always investigating how even the most seemingly mundane aspects of everyday life can be traced back to momentous events in big history. This book looks at how geological processes have shaped human (pre-)history, with a focus on geopolitics and the distribution of natural resources.

Having read a fair bit about the subject already, I went into this book with some reservations, fully prepared to find little beyond the usual pop-sci earth science (the Toba bottleneck hypothesis, the origins of British coal and Californian oil, etc). As it turns out, the book went into greater detail and covered more unfamiliar ground than I had expected, giving me several new topics to explore further. It does feel a little unstructured at times, but not enough to make it a difficult or frustrating read.

The one thing I really found tedious was the narrator. His tone and volume are both so low, and his articulation so indistinct, that he ends up sounding like a hungover Benedict Cumberbatch with a pillow over his face. I couldn’t make out half of the words being said when trying to play it over my car stereo, Bluetooth speakers, or non-ANC headphones. Only with ANC earplugs could I hear every word being said.